East Bay roundup: Miramonte High beats Acalanes 41-28

By Erik Stordahl Correspondent

Posted:
10/11/2013 10:45:32 PM PDT

Updated:
10/11/2013 11:53:02 PM PDT

On its homecoming night, the Miramonte High football team jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and held off a second-half charge by Acalanes for a 41-28 Diablo Foothill Athletic League victory Friday.

In the first quarter, Matadors quarterback Drew Anderson had a 7-yard touchdown run and a 28-yard strike to senior Dominic Paoletti.

After a Clayton Stehr 18-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, the Dons countered with a Casey Harrington 9-yard QB keeper.

The Dons (4-3, 0-3 DFAL) threatened to score again in the second quarter but fumbled at the Miramonte 10-yard line. It took the Matadors only two plays to find the end zone on the ensuing drive: a Will Fuller 40-yard catch and a Ryan Clark screen pass that went for 50 yards.

The Dons roared back in the third quarter when Peter Mitchell rushed for a 61-yard touchdown. On the following Miramonte possession, John Lauth intercepted Anderson's pass and ran it back for a touchdown.

The Matadors (5-2, 2-1) put it away for good in the fourth quarter with a methodical 12-play drive that spanned 4:42 and was capped with a Clark 1-yard rushing touchdown to make it 35-21 with 8:54 left.

Clark finished with 218 rushing yards and three touchdowns (one receiving) on 22 carries. Mitchell rushed the ball 20 times for 169 yards and a touchdown. Stehr had three catches for 46 yards and also came up with an interception in the third quarter.

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Las Lomas 30, Dublin 14: Shawn Hessler threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns and Zack Fulks ran for 116 yards and one touchdown to lead the visiting Knights (5-2, 3-0 DFAL) over the Gaels (2-5, 0-3).

Las Lomas piled up 460 yards in offense on the night, overmatching Dublin. It took more than a half for the Knights to seize control, however. The first quarter was scoreless, and it was after Fulks intercepted a Josh Nobida pass and returned it 25 yards to the Gaels 13 early in the second quarter that Las Lomas got on the board. That came on the ensuing play when Hessler hit Johnny Marinchak on a pretty throw to the left corner of the end zone.

It was still 7-0 late in the half when the Knights faced a third-and-20 at their own 41. Hessler hit Fulks on a quick dump at the line, and Fulks did the rest, weaving his way through the Dublin defense for 48 yards. Jack Kane followed with an 11-yard run for the touchdown.

A six-play, 74-yard drive on Las Lomas' first possession of the second half resulted in a 5-yard run by Fulks for the touchdown.

E.J. Crosse rushed for 76 yards for the Gaels. Nobida finished 16 of 34 for 161 yards and two touchdowns against the interception.

-- Damin Esper, correspondent

Alhambra 40, Dougherty Valley 37: The Bulldogs withstood a mechanical problem with their team bus and a power outage to emerge with a DFAL victory at Dougherty Valley.

"It was a weird night," Alhambra coach Alan Hern said. "Our bus breaks, the lights go out, but we had a lot of guys step up tonight to get us the win."

Nobody stepped up bigger than Bulldogs quarterback Joshua Evans, who passed for 328 yards and three scores and also rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Evans threw for two of his touchdowns in a decisive 20-0 run to end the first half that saw Alhambra turn a 21-6 deficit into a 26-21 halftime lead.

In the second half, after a Kinean Weekes field goal trimmed the lead to 26-24, Evans went to work again, finding Grant Hill on a 20-yard score for a 33-24 lead. Evans then found the end zone on a 8-yard keeper after the Bulldogs blocked a Wildcats punt attempt, putting Alhambra up 40-24.

Dougherty Valley cut the gap to 40-30 on Michael Pangelinan's second score of the night, and after the getting the ball back, Umar Farooq found Robert Sullivan on a 27-yard catch and run to pull the Wildcats within 40-37 with just 1:53 left. But Gideon Folau fell on the Wildcats' onside kick attempt to end any comeback hopes.

Pangelinan led Dougherty Valley with 137 yards rushing and two scores, and Julian Williams also scored two touchdowns.

Monte Cabrera was Evans' favorite target of the night, hauling in seven passes for 101 yards and two scores.

Hill added six catches and 91 yards for Alhambra.

-- Nate Smith, correspondent

EBAL

San Ramon Valley 56, Amador Valley 28: The pregame fireworks for homecoming were just a warm-up. Matt Winaker lit up Amador Valley in the first half, throwing three touchdown passes and running for one as host San Ramon Valley rolled to an East Bay Athletic League victory.

Winaker was nearly perfect, completing 10 of 12 passes for 170 yards. He set the tone when he connected with Christian Fuca deep down the left sideline for a 47-yard score on the third play of the game. The Wolves (3-3, 2-0 EBAL) scored on all six first-half possessions en route to a 42-7 halftime lead.

The Dons (4-2, 0-2) fired right back when sophomore quarterback Ronnie Jones scored on a 27-yard run with 8:52 left in the first quarter.

Michael White keyed the drive, going 17 yards on a swing pass from Jones, then bolting for a 30-yard gain on the next play.

San Ramon Valley kept rolling as Fuca and Winaker connected on an 18-yard score, Fuca catching a pass thrown slightly behind him as he dived over the goal line. Marcus de la Pena, who ran for 135 yards, scored on runs of 3 and 9 yards and caught a 3-yard scoring pass in the first half.

Jones tried to keep the Dons moving forward in the second half, throwing a 20-yard touchdown to Parker Newman and running 31 yards for a score in the third quarter. Jones threw for 10 yards and ran for 82.

-- Steve Dulas, correspondent

Granada 41, Monte Vista 9: Granada made it homecoming to remember -- the 50th in school history -- with a thunderous EBAL win over Monte Vista.

The Matadors (4-2, 1-1 EBAL) trailed 9-7 early in the second quarter and then proceeded to score 34 unanswered points over a Monte Vista team that falls to a dismal 1-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Granada quarterback Tyler Offill led the offensive charge 153 yards through the air that included a passing touchdown as well as a rushing touchdown. He completed 6 of 10 passes.

On the ground, the Mats were paced by a three-headed monster in Jason Silva (nine rushes for 70 yards), Casey Soltis (13 for 67 yards) and Jacob Shinnick (eight for 65 yards). Each scored a touchdown. In all the Mats combined for 251 yards rushing.

Offill's top target was wide receiver Javonn Williams, who caught four passes for 90 yards.

Granada scored two touchdowns in the final 4:19 of the first half, giving it a 21-9 lead. The first was a 16-yard scamper by Soltis, and the second came with less than a minute to go in the first half on a quarterback keeper by Offill.